Barclays shifts senior executive to dark pool investigation

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Barclays PLC has shifted the head of its equities electronic trading unit out of his day-to-day roles so that he can focus on the internal investigation into the British bank's U.S. dark pool trading venue, a person familiar with the situation said on Friday. Bill White's day-to-day duties will taken over by others within the electronic trading division, said the person, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation. The move was reported earlier on Friday by the Wall Street Journal. New York's attorney general filed a securities fraud lawsuit against Barclays this week, alleging its LX Liquidity Cross dark pool stock trading venue was misleading investors and giving an unfair advantage to high-frequency traders. Barclays has also tapped the law firm WilmerHale to help the bank defend itself against the allegations, according to people familiar with the matter. Among the attorneys working with Barclays is Matthew Martens, a former top litigator at the Securities and Exchange Commission who is perhaps best known for leading the SEC to victory in its high-profile civil fraud trial against former Goldman Sachs Vice President Fabrice "Fabulous Fab" Tourre, the sources said. (Reporting by John McCrank)